Blue Haze
by Delirium Cordia
Summary: Kakashi's dying, but first he needs to give Iruka one last thing. Review and I'll love you forever. character death, KakaIruish... r&r!


This was the horror every ninja knew they would eventually experience, and one that could never be forgotten. It was the one that always came back to you, floating into the conscious on dark nights when you couldn't fall asleep.

The rain beat down on the huddled ninja, hammering onto their fatigued bodies and soaking their clothing until it was heavy and clung to their skin. Water dripped from everything. Five of them, Iruka didn't even know who else, were crouched around Kakashi, who was lying on the ground amid a haze of blue, a soaking mess of blood and cuts.

There was a _lot_ of blood. It seemed to come from everywhere, and the pouring rain was doing nothing to wash it away. The front of Kakashi's vest was soaked black, and his mask was bloody. His eyes were open, but glassy and out of focus. He coughed, trying to say something, but choked and gasped for air.

Iruka didn't know if he was crying or not, the rain hitting his face made it impossible to tell. Something was welling up in him, faster than he could suppress it, and he let out an anguished cry.

Someone put a hand on his shoulder. "Iruka. There's nothing anyone can do for him."

Iruka shoved them away, and fell to the ground next to Kakashi, wiping the blood from the Jounin's face, from his forehead-protector, and from his eyes.

"Kakashi-- you'll be okay. You'll be okay. You'll be okay," he couldn't stop saying it. He clutched at silver hair, matted with blood and mud. The blood kept coming, and the blue haze was leaving, flowing out of Kakashi's broken body and disappearing through the black night.

_No. No, no, NO!_

"Stop it," Iruka sobbed –he knew for sure he was crying now— "Stop dying…"

The other ninja sat back somberly. They each ached enormously for the Chuunin— but this was his own horror. They all remembered their own night, when _they _had lain over their dying friend, not believing that it could really be happening. Drowning in hopelessness, watching the life drift away from the dying ninja, and being helpless to stop the blue haze from rising away. The blue was the worst. That was the shinobi's life and spirit and soul, sifting away. It was unbearable to watch.

Iruka gently pulled the mask away and saw Kakashi's face for the first tine. Kakashi was beautiful, even in near-death and covered in blood. Iruka's heart ached. He lowered his lips to the dying ninja's and kissed him softly. He couldn't taste Kakashi through the blood gathering in his mouth, which made his tears flow faster. He wished the blood would stop. He wished the blue would stop. He cried freely and kissed Kakashi again. "I'm sorry…"

Kakashi's eyes stopped sliding and focused on Iruka. He stared up desperately. "Iruka…"

"Don't talk," Iruka choked. "You'll be okay,"

"I love you."

Iruka's tears were too much. Their forehead protectors clinked together when Iruka bent down to meet his lover's mouth one more time. "I love you, Kakashi," he whispered though the blood.

There was a crashing in the dark trees behind them, and the other ninja whirled around, ready to attack.

Sakura and Naruto emerged from a black clump of bushes, soaked through and panting.

"What are you doing out here!" one of the ninja asked, furiously. "Do you know what's happening? Get back to the village!"

Naruto stepped forward. "We heard," he said, breathing heavily, "about Kakash-" he stopped abruptly as his gaze fell on his fallen sensei.

Sakura gasped when she saw him on the ground. "Is that—"

"You guys get out of here," a ninja said stonily. "Don't watch this."

"He's our sensei!" Naruto bellowed, stepping forward. A Konoha ninja caught him by the arm and reeled him back.

Iruka turned, the tears still flowing down his mud-streaked face. "You guys…"

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Get back to the village, you three," Iruka said. "You shouldn't be here."

"But Kakashi-sen-"

"Listen to him!" barked one of the ninja. "You two are just getting in the way. Get out of here. Go back."

Iruka turned back to the fallen Jounin, and stroked his cheek gently. Kakashi's eyes came back into focus for another moment, and he saw two of his old students standing several yards away, staring, stunned.

"Sakura," Kakashi mumbled.

"Me, sensei?" Sakura asked, bewildered. She was crying now.

"Come here," he said, and Sakura came to his side.

"I—I want him to have it."

"Have what, sensei?" Sakura asked, eyes welling over.

"The Sharingan…" He whispered, and his eyes slid closed. His breathing stilled to almost nothing.

"Sensei?"

"You have to do it, Sakura. You're—the only one who can," he said.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Me? I—I can't do that. I can't—"

"Please, Sakura. I want—him to have it."

Sakura looked to Iruka. The Chuunin was touching his own left eye, and running the fingers of his other hand along the scar over Kakashi's Sharingan. "Sensei?" she asked him softly.

"Do it, Sakura," Iruka said, hoarsely.

She balked. "I can't do that! I can't cut—I can't cut his eye out!"

"Please, Sakura," Kakashi whispered. He was nearly gone, she could tell. His voice was thin and his breathing grew weaker.

"You're almost a fully qualified medical ninja. You're the only one here who can do this," Iruka said expressionlessly. "Please."

Naruto stood on the edge of the scene, entranced.

Sakura bit her lip, and let more tears fall. "I'll do it."

"Thank you," Kakashi whispered. Iruka bent down and kissed him one last time.

Sakura worked unsteadily at first. She sobbed audibly when she held the blade of her knife over Kakashi's scar, and her hands shook as they worked, soaked in the blood that poured from the newly opened cut.

"Here, Iruka-sensei," she said, handing Iruka a small pill she took from the pouch at her waist. "It'll knock you out and you won't feel anything."

The Chuunin took the pill and swallowed it, and as he waited for its effects, he held Kakashi's hand. Within a minute, he fell into a deep, drugged sleep.

It was then when Naruto felt the first tear. He knew it was a tear, and not rain, because his breathing hitched and a clawing sadness grew in him, taking hold of everything. He watched, spellbound, as Sakura released Chakra from her fingers into Kakashi's flesh. When she lifted the eye, Naruto turned his head to the side and vomited into the bushes. Sakura's tears were streaming down her face, and she went to work on Iruka.

There was no scar to open on his face, just smooth, tanned skin. Her tears fell onto the unconscious Chuunin's forehead, washing the area clean of dirt and blood. When her knife made the incision, Naruto looked away, unable to watch. The smell of blood pervaded the air.

A minute later, it was all over. Sakura muttered a technique under her breath, and blue light spread from her fingertips into the cut, and the wound sealed itself, stopping the flow of blood. She wiped the blood off his face, and stood up. She turned and took one step back towards Naruto, and then fainted, falling face-first in the mud.

Iruka still slept, his face now marked with a long, angry, red scar, stretching from the eyebrow to the middle of his cheek. The eye-socket was swollen and inflamed. But still he slept.

And resting peacefully beside him, the left side of his beautiful face open and bloody, was Kakashi.

The rain poured down.


End file.
